Bev’s First Picks
There were all kinds of interesting twists to Governor-elect Perdue’s first Cabinet appointments.
Like President-elect Obama, she started by announcing related posts. Her theme was public safety. That shows the power of the press to dictate her agenda.
But she may not have been happy that the N&O focused on her decision not to keep Robert Lee Guy as head of probations, instead of her appointments.
The same day, the N&O’s John Drescher continued his debate with Governor Easley over killers on probation. Easley could have made the debate more interesting. He could have weighed in earlier with his argument that many of the criminals on probation should be in prison.
That’s the debate Governor Jim Hunt always had with the N&O. Hunt was a lock-‘em-up man. The N&O editorial page argued for alternatives to prison. Hunt backed up his rhetoric by building more prisons, but that costs money. Where will Perdue come down?
A year from now, the media will judge her administration in large part by the performance of the three people she announced Friday.
We’ll find out whether being a Marine prosecutor and judge – as well as an assistant state AG – prepared Alvin Keller to manage the Department of Correction. But his front-page picture made him look intimidating enough to scare criminals straight.
By appointing Rueben Young, an Easley holdover, Perdue got an experienced hand. She also got a veteran of the Easley-N&O wars over emails.
As will be true of all her appointees, Perdue’s first three got evaluated in terms of how much money they contributed to her. There is a hint here that something is wrong with a Governor’s appointees actually being committed to the Governor’s goals. Imagine that.
By that measure, the most political appointee is Linda Hayes. In fact, she goes back to Hunt days; she was one of his biggest political supporters. But she has also shown a genuine commitment to juvenile-crime issues. Here’s hoping she gives political appointments a better reputation.
Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.
Bev’s First Picks
There were all kinds of interesting twists to Governor-elect Perdue’s first Cabinet appointments.
Like President-elect Obama, she started by announcing related posts. Her theme was public safety. That shows the power of the press to dictate her agenda.
But she may not have been happy that the N&O focused on her decision not to keep Robert Lee Guy as head of probations, instead of her appointments.
The same day, the N&O’s John Drescher continued his debate with Governor Easley over killers on probation. Easley could have made the debate more interesting. He could have weighed in earlier with his argument that many of the criminals on probation should be in prison.
That’s the debate Governor Jim Hunt always had with the N&O. Hunt was a lock-‘em-up man. The N&O editorial page argued for alternatives to prison. Hunt backed up his rhetoric by building more prisons, but that costs money. Where will Perdue come down?
A year from now, the media will judge her administration in large part by the performance of the three people she announced Friday.
We’ll find out whether being a Marine prosecutor and judge – as well as an assistant state AG – prepared Alvin Keller to manage the Department of Correction. But his front-page picture made him look intimidating enough to scare criminals straight.
By appointing Rueben Young, an Easley holdover, Perdue got an experienced hand. She also got a veteran of the Easley-N&O wars over emails.
As will be true of all her appointees, Perdue’s first three got evaluated in terms of how much money they contributed to her. There is a hint here that something is wrong with a Governor’s appointees actually being committed to the Governor’s goals. Imagine that.
By that measure, the most political appointee is Linda Hayes. In fact, she goes back to Hunt days; she was one of his biggest political supporters. But she has also shown a genuine commitment to juvenile-crime issues. Here’s hoping she gives political appointments a better reputation.
Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.